Queen Elizabeth's 'Pay' Has Been Frozen

She'll still get about $50 million a year in taxpayers' money to run her palaces and travel the world, but there's word from the U.K. that Queen Elizabeth II has had her "pay" frozen until at least 2015.

As ABC News says, this is all "a sign of dire economic times across the pond." And it says that the tighter times are showing in another way:

"The queen has even approved renting out fancy rooms at St. James's Palace as party venues during the 2012 London Olympics, according to the Associated Press. Companies that hold royal warrants – those that have longstanding ties to the royal family – will be given the opportunity to rent the spaces."

The Daily Mail says the queen's funding "will now equal 15 per cent of the profits made two years previously by the Crown Estate. ... The Crown Estate includes Regent Street, Windsor Great Park and over 50 per cent of the UK's shoreline."